# 1988 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

The 1988 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 27 | 7:00 pm | vs. No. 10 Texas A&M* | No. 2 | Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, New Jersey (Kickoff Classic) | Raycom | W 23–14 | 58,162 |
| September 3 | 1:30 pm | Utah State* | No. 2 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, Nebraska | | W 63–13 | 76,233 |
| September 10 | 7:00 pm | at No. 5 UCLA* | No. 2 | Rose BowlPasadena, California | ABC | L 28–41 | 84,086 |
| September 24 | 6:00 pm | Arizona State* | No. 9 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, Nebraska | ESPN | W 47–16 | 76,312 |
| October 1 | 1:30 pm | UNLV* | No. 9 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, Nebraska | | W 48–6 | 76,398 |
| October 8 | 1:00 pm | at Kansas | No. 9 | Memorial StadiumLawrence, Kansas (rivalry) | | W 63–10 | 32,500 |
| October 15 | 1:30 pm | No. 10 Oklahoma State | No. 7 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, Nebraska | | W 63–42 | 76,432 |
| October 22 | 1:30 pm | at Kansas State | No. 5 | KSU StadiumManhattan, Kansas (rivalry) | | W 48–3 | 35,000 |
| October 29 | 1:30 pm | Missouri | No. 5 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, Nebraska (rivalry) | | W 26–18 | 76,316 |
| November 5 | 1:00 pm | at Iowa State | No. 7 | Cyclone StadiumAmes, Iowa | | W 51–16 | 50,158 |
| November 12 | 1:30 pm | No. 19 Colorado | No. 7 | Memorial StadiumLincoln, Nebraska (rivalry) | | W 7–0 | 76,359 |
| November 19 | 2:30 pm | at No. 9 Oklahoma | No. 7 | Oklahoma Memorial StadiumNorman, Oklahoma (rivalry) | CBS | W 7–3 | 75,004 |
| January 2, 1989 | 7:00 pm | vs. No. 2 Miami (FL)* | No. 6 | Miami Orange BowlMiami, Florida (Orange Bowl) (rivalry) | NBC | L 3–23 | 79,480 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Roster and coaching staff
### Depth chart

Defense :
* FS
* Tim Jackson
* Marvin Sanders
* Wendell Wooten
| OUTSIDE | INSIDE | INSIDE | OUTSIDE |
| Jeff Mills | Leroy Etienne | Chris Caliendo | Broderick Thomas |
| Jon Marco | Randall Jobman | Pat Tyrance | Mike Croel |
| Kurt Broer | Mark Hagge | Brad Ferguson | Dan Svehla |
* SS
* Reggie Cooper
* Mark Blazek
* Scott Vampola
* CB
* Charles Fryar
* Tahaun Lewis
* Jon Crippen
| DE | NT | DE |
| Kent Wells | Lawrence Pete | Willie Griffin |
| Paul Brungardt | Mike Murray | Joe Sims |
| Ray Valladao | Junior Monarrez | Le Andre Anderson |
* CB
* Lorenzo Hicks
* Bruce Pickens
* John Custard
Offense :
* WR
* Morgan Gregory
* Nate Turner
* Chip Bahe
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Bob Sledge | Andy Keeler | Jake Young | John Nelson | Doug Glaser |
| Tom Punt | Mark Antonietti | David Edeal | Bill Bobbora | Terry Eyman |
| Steve Engstrom | Jim Wanek | Roger Fitzke | Chris O'Gara | Steve Engstrom |
* TE
* Todd Millikan
* Monte Kratzenstein
* Corey Grobe
* WR
* Richard Bell
* Dana Brinson
* Jamie Worden
* QB
* Steve Taylor
* Gerry Gdowski
* Mickey Joseph
* RB
* Ken Clark
* Tyreese Knox
* Terry Rodgers Leodis Flowers
* FB
* Bryan Carpenter
* Lance Lewis
* Sam Schmidt
* Special teams
* PK Gregg Barrios Chris Drennan
* P John Kroeker

## Game summaries
### Texas A&M

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Texas A&M | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| • Nebraska | 0 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 23 |

### Utah State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Utah State | 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| • Nebraska | 14 | 14 | 14 | 21 | 63 |

### At UCLA

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Nebraska | 0 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 28 |
| • UCLA | 28 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 41 |

### Arizona State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Arizona State | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| • Nebraska | 9 | 21 | 0 | 17 | 47 |

### UNLV

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| UNLV | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| • Nebraska | 7 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 48 |

### At Kansas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Nebraska | 28 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 63 |
| Kansas | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### Oklahoma State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oklahoma State | 0 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 42 |
| • Nebraska | 35 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 63 |

### At Kansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Nebraska | 14 | 20 | 14 | 0 | 48 |
| Kansas State | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |

### Missouri

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Missouri | 3 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 18 |
| • Nebraska | 0 | 0 | 17 | 9 | 26 |

### At Iowa State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Nebraska | 7 | 24 | 7 | 13 | 51 |
| Iowa State | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 16 |

### Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colorado | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Nebraska | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |

### At Oklahoma

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Nebraska | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Oklahoma | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma
* Date: November 19, 1988
* Game time: 3:30 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: Rain
* Game attendance: 75,004
* TV announcers (CBS): Brent Musburger
* Box Score, Box Score
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Nebraska | Passing | Steve Taylor | 2/12, 48 Yds, INT |
| Nebraska | Rushing | Ken Clark | 24 Rush, 167 Yds |
| Nebraska | Receiving | Richard Bell | 2 Rec, 48 Yds |
| Oklahoma | Passing | Charles Thompson | 3/9, 39 Yds, INT |
| Oklahoma | Rushing | Mike Gaddis | 12 Rush, 45 Yds |
| Oklahoma | Receiving | Artie Guess | 1 Rec, 28 Yds |
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | NU | OU |
| 1 | 11:06 | 9 | 80 | | Nebraska | Steve Taylor 1-yard touchdown run, Gregg Berrios kick good | 7 | 0 |
| 3 | 1:50 | 6 | 19 | | Oklahoma | 29-yard field goal by R.D. Lashar | 7 | 3 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 7 | 3 |

### Orange Bowl (vs Miami (FL))

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Miami | 7 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 23 |
| Nebraska | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 10 |
| Coaches | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 10 |

## Awards

| Award | Name(s) |
| All-America 1st team | Broderick Thomas, Jake Young |
| Big 8 coach of the Year | Tom Osborne |
| Big 8 Defensive Player of the Year | Broderick Thomas |
| Big 8 Defensive Newcomer of the Year | Bruce Pickens |
| All-Big 8 1st team | Dana Brinson, Ken Clark, LeRoy Etienne, Charles Fryar, Willie Griffin, Tim Jackson, Andy Keeler, Todd Millikan, Lawrence Pete, Bob Sledge, Steve Taylor, Broderick Thomas, Jake Young |
| All-Big 8 2nd team | Reggie Cooper, Doug Glaser |
| All-Big 8 honorable mention | Richard Bell, Mark Blazek, Chris Caliendo, Bryan Carpenter, Morgan Gregory, John Kroeker, Jeff Mills, John Nelson |

## NFL and pro players

The following Nebraska players who participated in the 1988 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.
| Name | Team |
| Richard Bell | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Dana Brinson | San Diego Chargers |
| Pete Buchanan | Toronto Argonauts |
| Ken Clark | Indianapolis Colts |
| Reggie Cooper | Dallas Cowboys |
| Mike Croel | Denver Broncos |
| LeRoy Etienne | San Francisco 49ers |
| Tim Jackson | Dallas Cowboys |
| Keith Jones | Cleveland Browns |
| Jeff Mills | San Diego Chargers |
| Lawrence Pete | Detroit Lions |
| Bruce Pickens | Atlanta Falcons |
| Tim Rother | Los Angeles Raiders |
| Joe Sims | Atlanta Falcons |
| Steve Taylor | Edmonton Eskimos |
| Broderick Thomas | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Nate Turner | Buffalo Bills |
| Kenny Walker | Denver Broncos |
| Kent Wells | New York Giants |